Puzzle

ABSTRACT

A puzzle including a flexible loop and a device comprising a rigid rod with first and second resilient members attached to one rod end to form first and second loops and third and fourth resilient members attached to the other rod end to form third and fourth loops. The first and third members are interlaced and the second and fourth members are interlaced. The puzzle is worked by following a program alternately to place the flexible loop on the rod and to remove the flexible loop from the rod.

United States Patent [1 1 Ludwig Sept. 11, 1973 PUZZLE [76] Inventor:Robert L. Ludwig, P. O. Box 26, Mt.

Cory, Ohio 45868 [22] Filed: Mar. 17, 1972 [21] Appl. No.:235,528

[52] US. Cl. 273/159 [51] Int. Cl. A63t' 9/08 [58] Field of Search273/159; D34/15 M [56] References Cited I UNITED STATES PATENTS Dl72,3105/1954 Riddle D34/15 M 2,091,191 8/1937 Van Luven 273/159 FOREIGNPATENTS OR APPLICATIONS Great Britain 273/159 Primary Examiner-Anton O.Oechsle Attorney Carl F. Schaffer et a1.

[5 7] ABSTRACT A puzzle including a flexible loop and a devicecomprising a rigid rod with first and second resilient members attachedto one rod end to form first and second loops and third and fourthresilient members attached to the other rod end to form third and fourthloops. The first and third members are interlaced and the second andfourth members are interlaced. The puzzle is worked by following aprogram alternately to place the flexible loop on the rod and to removethe flexible loop from the rod.

7 Claims, 13 Drawing Figures PATENTED SEP1 1 I975 SHEEI 1 BF 4 PATENTEDSEP] H973 SHEET 3 OF 4 PUZZLE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This inventionrelates to amusement devices and more particularly to a puzzle in whicha closed flexible loop is alternately placed on and removed from adevice.

For ages, mathematicians, philosophers and other thinkers have beenintrigued by puzzles. The interest which such thinkers show in puzzlesincreases as the solution to the puzzle becomes more involved. Thus, arelatively simple puzzle requiring perhaps three steps to solve wouldhold much less interest than a more complicated puzzle having severalmore steps in its solution. As a consequence, there is a demand for newand unusual puzzles which have a fairly complicated solution. The demandfor such puzzles has also-increased with the general increase in leisuretime available to working people. Working people now have leisure timeto spend on amusement devices such as puzzles which they did not have inthe past.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, a puzzle isprovided which requires nine separate steps for solution. The solutionto the puzzle is sufficiently difiicult as to maintain for some time theinterest of a person attempting to solve the puzzle. The puzzle consistsof a closed flexible loop and a device on which the loop is alternatelyplaced and removed. The loop may comprise a piece of rope or string tiedto form a closed loop or it may comprise a flexible synthetic resinousmate rial forrned into a continuousor closed loop.

The device comprises a rigid rod having spaced 'ends and four resilientmembers. A first and a second of the members are attached to one rod endsuch that these members form first and second closed resilient loops,respectively. A third and a fourth of the members are attached to theother rod end such that these members form third and fourth closedresilient loops, respectively. The lengths of the first and thirdmembers are slightly greater than the lengths of the second and fourthmembers, respectively. The first and second members are positioned topass around one side of the rod while the third and fourthmembers arepositioned to pass around the opposite side of the rod. The members arealso interlaced such that the first and third members generally simulatea first loosely tiedsquare knot and the second and fourth memberssimulate a second loosely tied square knot spaced within the first knot.In working the puzzle, the flexible loop is passed around and betweenthe members according to a predetermined program alternately to placethe flexible loop on the rod and to remove the flexible loop from therod.

Accordingly, it is a preferred object of the invention to provide a newpuzzle.

Another object of theinvention is to provide a puzzle having a difficultsolution.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent fromthe following detailed description, withreference being made to theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS flexible loop positionedon the rod ofthe puzzle device;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a puzzle device constructed in accordance withthe present invention;

FIG. 3 is an elevational view of a puzzle device constructed inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 4 is an elevational view of a single one of the four resilientmembers of the puzzle device;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the first step in a solution to apuzzle according to the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the second step in a solution to apuzzle according to the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the third step in a solution to apuzzle according to the present invention; FIG. 8 is a perspective viewshowing the fourth step in a solution to a puzzle according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing the fifth step in a solution to apuzzle according to the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing the sixth step in a solution to apuzzle according to the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing the seventh step in a solution toa puzzle according to the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing the eighth step in a solution to apuzzle according to the present invention; and

FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing the ninth and final step in asolution to a puzzle according to the present invention.

DESCRIPTION or THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawingsand particularly to FIGS. 1-3, a puzzle 10 is shown constructed inaccordance with the present invention. The puzzle 10 consists of twopieces: a closed flexible loop 11 and a device 12 on which the loop 11is alternately placed and removed in solving the puzzle 10. The flexibleloop 11 may consist of a piece of rope or string closed by means of aknot 13, or it may be an endless loop formed, for example, from asuitable flexible synthetic resinous material.

The device 12 comprises a rigid rod 14 having left and right ends 15 and16, respectively, and first, second, third and fourth resilient members17-20, respectively. The rod 14 may, for example, consist of a smalldiameter metallic rod or wire and the members 17-20 may consist ofresilient wires, for example stainless steel wires. Or, the rod 14 andthe members 17-20 may all be formed from suitable synthetic resinousmaterials. Although the rod 14 is preferably straight, it will beappreciated that bends may be formed in the rod and that the rod 14 mayhave an irregular cross section without departing from the invention.

Each of the members 17-20 is formed into a closed loop which may bedescribed as beingsomewhat leafshaped. A typical one of the members17-20 is shown in detail in FIG. 4. Each member has a bight 21 whichdefines an opening 22. A pair of integral legs 23 and 24 are angledtogether from the bight 21 and terminate at two adjacent ends 25 and 26,respectively. The member ends 25 and 26 are attached together, as bywelding or other conventional techniques, to an end of the rod 14. Thesize of the first member 17 is slightly larger than the second member 18and the size of the third member 19 is slightly larger than the size ofthe fourth member 20. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, themaximum dimension of each member 17-20, as measuredbetween the bight 21and the ends 25 and 26 is within the range of 65 to 100 percent of thelength of the rod 14.

The ends 25 and 26 of the two members 17 and 18 are welded together tothe left end of the rod 14 such that the second member 18 is normallyspaced within the first member 17. Similarly, the ends 25 and 26 of thetwo members 19 and are welded or otherwise attached to the right end 16of the rod 14 such that 1 the fourth member 20 is spaced within thethird member 19. The first and second members 17 and 18 are preferablyaligned as shown and the third and fourth members 19 and 20 arepreferably aligned, as shown in FIG. 3. However, such alignment is notcritical because of the resiliency of the members.

In attaching the four members 17-20 to the rod 14, the members 17-20 arearranged such that the bights 21 of the first and second members 17 and18 extend around one side of the rod 14 and the bights 21 of the thirdand fourth members 19 and 20 extend around the opposite side of the rod14, as is best shown in FIG. -3.

The four members 17-20 are also intertwined or interlaced beforeattachment to the rod 14, as is best shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.The firstmember 17 passes through the opening 22 in the third member 19 andaround the legs 23 and 24 of the third member 19. The second member 18passes through the opening 22 in the fourth member 20 and around thelegs 23 and 24 of the fourth member 20. Similarly, the third member 19passes through the opening 22 in the first member 17 and around the legs23 and 24 of the first member 17 and the fourth member 20 passes throughthe opening 22 in the second member 18 and around the legs 23 and 24 ofthe second member 18. If the four members 17-20 are aligned as in FIG.3, the first member 17 will also pass around the legs 23 and 24 ofthethird member 19, the second member 18 will also pass through the opening22 in the third member 19, the third member 19 will also pass around thelegs 23 and 24 of the second member 18 and the fourth member 20 willalso pass through the opening 22 in the first member 17. As best seen inthe perspective view of FIG. 1, the first and third members 17 and 19may be characterized as being interlaced in the form of a loosely tiedsquare knot. Similarly, the second and fourth members 18 and 20 also maybe characterized as being in the form of a loosely tied square knotspaced within the first an third members 17 and 19.

The puzzle 10 is worked by weaving the flexible loop 11 through the fourmembers 17-20 according to a predetermined program alternately to placethe loop 11 around the rod 14, as shown in FIG. 1, and to remove theloop 11 from the rod 14. In describing the program for solving thepuzzle 10, the puzzle 10 must be oriented by grasping the puzzle at theright end 16 of the rod 14. The direction in which the loop 11 isthreaded through the members 17-20 will be the same as those shown inFIG. 3, with motion of the loop 11 to the left being towards the leftend 15, to the right being towards the right end 16, up being towardsthe top of FIG. 2 and down being towards the bottom of FIG. 2.

It is important that the bights 21 of the first and second members 17and 18 which are adjacent the right end 16, be oriented above the rod 14while following the solution described below.

The program for removing the loop 11 from the rod 14 consists of, nineseparate steps, as shown in FIGS. 5-13. Initially, the flexible loop 1 1is positioned to hang down from the center of the rod 14, as shown inFIG. 2. From this position, the following nine steps are required toremove the flexible loop 11 from the rod 14:

l. The loop 11 is lifted'over the left end 15 of the device 12, pulledright and passed up and to the left between the first and second members17 and 18, as shown in FIG. 5;

2. The loop 11 is pulled left and down around the left end 15 and ispassed up and to the left between the third and fourth members 19 and20, as shown in FIG. 6;

3. The loop 11 is lifted around the left end 15, pulled all the way tothe right, passed down between the first and second members 17 and 18and pulled left under the second member 18, as shown in FIG. 7;

4. The loop 11 is then pulled left and around the left end 15 and thenpassed above the third member 19 and down between the third and fourthmembers 19 and 20, as shown in FIG. 8;

5. The loop 11 is lifted over the left end 15, pulled right and passeddown between the first and second members 17 and 18, going around thefirst member 17 as shown in FIG. 9;

6. The loop 11 is then pulled'left and down around the left end 15 andpassed up and to the left over both the third and fourth members 19 and20, as

shown in FIG. 10;

7. The loop 11 is next pulled to the left and, subsequently, passed downbetween the third and fourth members 19 and 20 going around the thirdmember 19, as shown in FIG. 11;

8. The loop 11 is lifted over the left end 15, pulled right and passedup and to the left between the first and second members 17 and 18, goingaround the first member 17 (at the same time, care must be taken to becertain that the other end of the loop 11 passes above or outside of thesecond member 18), as shown in FIG. 12; and

9. Finally, the loop 11 is pulled to the left, down around the left end15 and passed up and to the left between the third and fourth members 19and 20, as shown in FIG. 13.

After following the above nine steps, a pull to the left will free theloop 11 from the device 12. If the loop 11 has a knot 13, it is best tohold the loop 11 with the left hand at the knot 13 while working thepuzzle 10. This prevents the knot 13 from catching on the members 17-20and provides a referencepoint.

The loop 11 may be placed back on the rod 14 by following the above ninesteps in reverse order or, preferably, by the following nine steps:

1. With the device 12 oriented as above, the loop 11 is passed aroundthe device 12 such that it extends around the hand grasping the rightend 16 of the device 12 and the loop 11 is passed up between the firstand second members 17 and 18;

2. The loop 11 is pulled to the left and down around the left end 15 andpassed up and to the left between the third and fourth members 19 and20;

3. The loop 11 is pulled up around the left end 15 and to the right,making sure the other end of the loop 11 passes outside or below thefourth member 20, and the loop 11 is pulled down and to the left betweenthe first and second members 17 and 18,

going under the second member 18;

4. The loop 11 is pulled left and down around the left end 15 and passeddown between the third and fourth members 19 and 20, going around thethird member 19;

5. The loop 1 1 is pulled up around the left end 15 and to the right andis subsequently passed down and to the right between the first andsecond members 17 and 18, going around the first member 17;

6. The loop 11 is pulled to the left and down and is passed up and tothe left over both the third and fourth members 19 and 20;

7. The loop 11 is pulled to the left and subsequently passed downbetween the third and fourth members 19 and 20;

8; The loop 11 is pulled up around the left end 15 and to the right andis passed up between the first and second members 17 and 18, goingaround the first member 17; and v 9. The loop 11 is pulled left and downaround the left end 15 and is passed up and to the left between thethird and fourth members 19 and 20. A pull to the left will complete thepuzzle, placing the loop 11 around the rod 14.

It will be appreciated that various changes and modifications may bemade in the above-described puzzle without departing from the spirit andthe scope of the claimed invention. In addition, it must be appreciatedthat solutions other than the above-described solution to the puzzle 10may exist.

What I claim is:

l. A puzzle comprising a device and a closed flexible loop which isalternately placed on and removed from said device according to apredetermined program, said device comprising, a rigid rod having twoends, four resilient members, each of said members being formed todefine a bight and two integral legs angling together from said bight totwo adjacent member ends, a first of said members having a size slightlylarger than a second of said members, a third of said members having asize slightly larger than a fourth of said members, means attaching saidends of said first and second members to one end of said rod with saidsecond member spaced inside said first member and the bights of saidfirst and second members passing around one side portion of said rod,and means attaching said ends of said third and fourth members to theother end of said rod with said fourth member spaced inside said thirdmember and the bights of said third and fourth members passing aroundsaid rod opposite said one side portion, each of said members forming aclosed loop with an opening therethrough, said four members beingarranged such that said first member passes through the opening in saidthird member and around the legs of said third member, said secondmember passes through the opening in said fourth member and around thelegs of said fourth member, said third member passes through the openingin said first member and around thelegs of said first member and saidfourth member passes through the opening in said second member andaround the legs of said second member.

2. A puzzle, as defined in claim 1, wherein the closed a loop formed byeach of said members has a maximum dimension as measured from the end ofthe rod to which such member is attached to the bight of such memberwithin the range of 65 to 100 percent of the length of said rod.

3. A puzzle, as defined in claim 2, wherein said first and third membersare the same size and shape, and wherein said second and fourth membersare the same size and shape.

. 4. A puzzle, as defined in claim 3, wherein said members are formedfrom resilient wire.

5. A puzzle, as defined in claim 4, wherein the ends of said members areattached to the ends of said rods by welding.

6. A puzzle, as defined in claim 1, wherein said four members arearranged such that said first member passes through the opening in saidthird member and around the legs of said third and fourth members, saidsecond member passes through the openings in said third and fourthmembers and around the legs of said fourth member, said third memberpasses through the opening in said first member and around the legs ofsaid first and second members, and said fourth member passes through theopenings in said first and second members and around the legs of saidsecond member.

7. A puzzle, as defined in claim 1, wherein said closed flexible loop isformed from rope.

1. A puzzle comprising a device and a closed flexible loop which isalternately placed on and removed from said device according to apredetermined program, said device comprising, a rigid rod having twoends, four resilient members, each of said members being formed todefine a bight and two integral legs angling together from said bight totwo adjacent member ends, a first of said members having a size slightlylarger than a second of said Members, a third of said members having asize slightly larger than a fourth of said members, means attaching saidends of said first and second members to one end of said rod with saidsecond member spaced inside said first member and the bights of saidfirst and second members passing around one side portion of said rod,and means attaching said ends of said third and fourth members to theother end of said rod with said fourth member spaced inside said thirdmember and the bights of said third and fourth members passing aroundsaid rod opposite said one side portion, each of said members forming aclosed loop with an opening therethrough, said four members beingarranged such that said first member passes through the opening in saidthird member and around the legs of said third member, said secondmember passes through the opening in said fourth member and around thelegs of said fourth member, said third member passes through the openingin said first member and around the legs of said first member and saidfourth member passes through the opening in said second member andaround the legs of said second member.
 2. A puzzle, as defined in claim1, wherein the closed loop formed by each of said members has a maximumdimension as measured from the end of the rod to which such member isattached to the bight of such member within the range of 65 to 100percent of the length of said rod.
 3. A puzzle, as defined in claim 2,wherein said first and third members are the same size and shape, andwherein said second and fourth members are the same size and shape.
 4. Apuzzle, as defined in claim 3, wherein said members are formed fromresilient wire.
 5. A puzzle, as defined in claim 4, wherein the ends ofsaid members are attached to the ends of said rods by welding.
 6. Apuzzle, as defined in claim 1, wherein said four members are arrangedsuch that said first member passes through the opening in said thirdmember and around the legs of said third and fourth members, said secondmember passes through the openings in said third and fourth members andaround the legs of said fourth member, said third member passes throughthe opening in said first member and around the legs of said first andsecond members, and said fourth member passes through the openings insaid first and second members and around the legs of said second member.7. A puzzle, as defined in claim 1, wherein said closed flexible loop isformed from rope.